Today, I planned to take Rain and Tina on the trail. I wasn't sure about how the ground would be with the frozen ground, but I figured we'd try. I tacked up Rain and haltered Tina and off we went. This was my first ponying since my broken arm. I wanted to take it easy and keep myself out of trouble.
We made it 1/2 way down the driveway when Gem appeared. He was out in the front pasture and decided he'd like to come along with us. It was a little tough because he'd stop to munch on grass, then canter to catch up. It's always tough when you've got a horse cantering up behind you. Tina was defensive about Gem getting too close and I didn't like it much either.
When we got to the gate, I saw the ground was slick and frozen. I sat and thought, then decided it wasn't worth the risk to ride on ice. I just don't want an injury to them or to me. So, we rode the property instead. We followed the fence and then back at the barn, we did some obstacle course stuff. It was a nice break-in back to ponying.
After about 2 hours, I hopped off, put Tina and Rain back on the track and tacked up Z. Z and I just rode around the property as well. I'm trying to just get back into my regular routine of riding every single day I can. Z and I have some filming to do soon - I'd like to get that filming done asap. So we practiced our bridleless cues and riding w/o reins.
A good day back in the saddle and I started to long from spring - or at least longer days.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Trying to trail ride
Finally, a break in the cold. This is sure one hard winter. It's been frigidly cold and the snow hasn't melted. Today, it was about 30 degrees and I was determined to get out and move some horses. I tacked up Rain and grabbed Miss Tina, thinking we'd head down the trail. I figured we'd just walk and take it easy. When we got to the gate, I realized there was a good coating of ice and I was concerned that Rain or Tina would slip. I decided to stay on the property and ride through the snow on the perimeter.
Tina ponied very nicely, no pulling - just staying in her spot and paying attention. Rain was my trusty mount as always. Gemini was out on the front acreage, so he was silly running around us, stopping to eat, charging forward to catch up with us, just lots of energy. It made me laugh and it was a good test for the mares to pay attention to me and not him. A couple times they thought about running off with him when he ran past. It only took once or twice for them to realize it was about what I was asking for and not about following Gemini.
It was a nice little jog around the property and I let Tina go to hang out with Gem to play with Rain alone a little. I worked on sideways towards in the barn aisle with Rain and amazingly, she earned it in 10 minutes. We have a great relationship and she is a fantastic learner. I was so proud of her and she could tell. She must have licked for a solid 30 seconds when she really had it. We quit there.
I put her back out with the herd and brought Gem and Tina in. I want to start working on clipping confidence with Tina. As a dressage horse, she'll need to be good when the clippers get pulled out. Gem also needs more clipping confidence, so I figured I'd work with them both. Tina was very afraid and I had to take it very slow. I got her to the point where I could rub the running clippers around her neck up towards her throat latch and she was starting to relax. Good place to quit.
Then, to keep things interesting, I broke the clippers. I dropped them. When I turned them back on they were super loud and scared ALL the horses. :-) I played with the noise for a few minutes, looking for them to get used to the noise, then I called it a day. It was a great 3 hours! Between the weather and my broken arm, it's been a hard horse winter.
Tina ponied very nicely, no pulling - just staying in her spot and paying attention. Rain was my trusty mount as always. Gemini was out on the front acreage, so he was silly running around us, stopping to eat, charging forward to catch up with us, just lots of energy. It made me laugh and it was a good test for the mares to pay attention to me and not him. A couple times they thought about running off with him when he ran past. It only took once or twice for them to realize it was about what I was asking for and not about following Gemini.
It was a nice little jog around the property and I let Tina go to hang out with Gem to play with Rain alone a little. I worked on sideways towards in the barn aisle with Rain and amazingly, she earned it in 10 minutes. We have a great relationship and she is a fantastic learner. I was so proud of her and she could tell. She must have licked for a solid 30 seconds when she really had it. We quit there.
I put her back out with the herd and brought Gem and Tina in. I want to start working on clipping confidence with Tina. As a dressage horse, she'll need to be good when the clippers get pulled out. Gem also needs more clipping confidence, so I figured I'd work with them both. Tina was very afraid and I had to take it very slow. I got her to the point where I could rub the running clippers around her neck up towards her throat latch and she was starting to relax. Good place to quit.
Then, to keep things interesting, I broke the clippers. I dropped them. When I turned them back on they were super loud and scared ALL the horses. :-) I played with the noise for a few minutes, looking for them to get used to the noise, then I called it a day. It was a great 3 hours! Between the weather and my broken arm, it's been a hard horse winter.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Keeping up with trims
A friend, who is also a barefoot trimmer, has been helping me out with trims while I recover from my arm injury. Today, we managed to get Tina, Rain, and Rio trimmed.
Tina's feet were a mess when she get here. She's now been here 3 1/2 months and they are really coming along nicely. The front left is very flat, the white line is very stretched and her quarters really want to flare. She also has a spot where the hoof wall on the left rear was very damaged. That spot has now grown to the ground and by next trim it will be gone. Her front right is nicely shaped now and in 2-3 more trims she'll have all new feet. Cool to watch her hooves transform.
Rain got complimented for her feet. She has incredible hooves with zebra stripes and they are strong! Her hooves are just a nice example of years of barefoot and proper trimming can do. She's a fantastic horse.
She trimmed her horse, Rio as well.
Tina's feet were a mess when she get here. She's now been here 3 1/2 months and they are really coming along nicely. The front left is very flat, the white line is very stretched and her quarters really want to flare. She also has a spot where the hoof wall on the left rear was very damaged. That spot has now grown to the ground and by next trim it will be gone. Her front right is nicely shaped now and in 2-3 more trims she'll have all new feet. Cool to watch her hooves transform.
Rain got complimented for her feet. She has incredible hooves with zebra stripes and they are strong! Her hooves are just a nice example of years of barefoot and proper trimming can do. She's a fantastic horse.
She trimmed her horse, Rio as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)